Sonoma Construction president Jon Runquist II has focused on tenant interior office space for 20-plus years, so he’s the perfect moderator for Bisnow’s Chicago Creative Office Summit on Jan. 30. (Don't miss it! Tix here.) Creativity with design and financing has skyrocketed, he tells us. For example, partitions and walls can now be a part of a furniture installation and become an asset that depreciates, as opposed to a non-depreciable fixture. And sustainable, creative design also provides savings, with features like green roofs, light harvesting, and reuse of a building’s existing conditions. Wireless technology means less segregation and more integration, as companies try shared office space or hoteling concepts, where employees store personal items in lockers at the end of the day, Jon says.
Here’s Sonoma’s work on Vibes Media’s space at 300 W Adams. As employees work longer hours, offices are becoming more casual, with amenities like bars and pool tables, Jon says. (Come year-end review, you can tell your boss you "hustled" more.) Glass, graphic wall displays, and flat screens have replaced closed doors and traditional painting, but the focus remains on reducing the budget. “Any time you don’t need to build walls and put in ceilings, you’re saving money,” he says. With a 2-year-old at home, Jon's favorite escapes from potty training are movies and fly fishing.
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